


Two Worlds, One Life

by sohini96



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternative Sexuality, Bisexual Female Character of Color, Female Character of Color, Harry Potter Next Generation, Harry Potter References, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 09:42:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6233713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohini96/pseuds/sohini96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Hogwarts was real and Harry Potter was a real life account of what went on there? It's 2016, and Nidhi Gupta, a muggleborn from the London suburbs, is in her fourth year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But she's also got one foot firmly in the Muggle world, being in Year 9 at her local high school, trying to decide subjects for her GCSE's next year. Balancing her two very different worlds has been a rollercoaster so far, and although things are looking relatively calm now, that's about to change very soon. Friendships are made and broken, studying gets ridiculously hard, conspiracies abound and hormones are everywhere, but will Nidhi manage to overcome them all and manage to live as normal a teenage life as possible? Find out in this series, which will deal with muggleborns at Hogwarts, Hogwarts in the twenty-first century and how Nidhi can reconcile her two worlds by adding a little bit of them to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

London, May, 2013

Nidhi Gupta didn’t have the slightest clue she was a witch until the very day her Hogwarts letter arrived, handed to her in person when a mysterious but kindly young woman suddenly showed up on the doorstep of her tiny Merton townhouse. Sure, strange, unexplainable things had been happening around her for the better part of two years (and well before that, in fact) but she’d never even considered that this could be the case. She’d read all the Harry Potter novels cover to cover and watched the movies until the DVD’s became scratched beyond repair, had bought so much merchandise that she’d maxed out her allowance for as long as she could remember, but she had never even fantasised that it was, somehow, all real. 

Her parents, obviously, were shocked and horrified at all this, and it took them a very long time to be convinced that all this was not, in fact, some elaborate joke. Both highly respected doctors, they were devout Hindus, and considered all the strangeness that surrounded their only daughter to be a consequence of unfavourable stars, the evil eye or some other malignant influence, although one of her mothers, who had seen the same sort of scenarios happen to her older sister, Nidhi’s favourite aunt, in her youth and had not seen her for seven years after she was suddenly spirited away to America for boarding school, suspected otherwise. They’d certainly never expected it to be a gift worthy of nurturing. In addition, they expected their nerdy, overachieving daughter to go to college, do her A-levels and take after them to become either a doctor, lawyer or engineer. They weren’t exactly amenable to the idea that she was to be whisked away to a boarding school far away from them where she would be learning ‘magic’, and nothing practical or of use. But after the witch that delivered the letter sat in their loungeroom and over the course of three hours explained the existence of the entire magical world, the curriculum of Hogwarts and possible career paths, in addition to stating that it was completely possible for Nidhi to obtain a non-magical or ‘muggle’ education in addition to her magical one (although she didn’t really talk about the specifics), the two women took all this new information greatly in their stride and became very enthusiastic about the idea, and promised that yes, Nidhi would be on the train to Hogwarts on the first of September.

And that’s how it all began.


	2. Back We Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nidhi ponders on the past, present and future as she catches the Hogwarts Express.

Hogwarts, September 2016

Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was as chaotic as ever, from the imposing, bright red engine to the constantly billowing smoke to the almost unimaginable crowds of people, but from being frightened of it, as she was as a trembling, terrified eleven-year-old, leaving her parents behind for the first time in her life, it now seemed familiar and comforting to her. Four years of constant oscillating had done a lot, and from being a shy, introverted, frightened little girl who was almost too nerdy to function, Nidhi had now become a confident, well-adjusted and vivacious teenager whose intelligence had ensured she was proficient in both magical and more normal pursuits (although she was still too nerdy to function). Of course there had been tears when she parted with her emotional parents at the brick wall, as there always had been for the past four years, but they’d lessened in ferocity, and now after an intense period of summer school designed to catch her up with her Muggle schooling, she was now thoroughly tired of ‘normal’ life and totally ready to go back to her magical double life. 

Most of the things she would miss most about the Muggle world, such as her tech, music, books and fandom she had packed to take along with her, but what she couldn’t (her parents, her five rescue dogs and her sizeable Muggle friendship group) she had taken memories of and promised to keep in touch with. But with her immaculate, shiny new books and freshly cleaned and pressed robes, her faithful wand and her brand new fourteenth birthday present of a sassy, chirpy and absolutely adorable fluffy brown long-eared owl she’d named Nicki (after Nicki Minaj, one of her favourite artists), she felt very optimistic about the year that awaited her. 

Upon snapping out of her reverie, she had only to look up for a few seconds before she was greeted loudly and enthusiastically with many hugs by a large group of girls, made up her Hufflepuff roommates and some of other friends from the other houses. Nidhi was one of the very few people in her year, actually even Hogwarts itself, who could count members of every single house, in addition to her own as her friends, and subsequently she was pretty much always accompanied by an entourage. After a babble of talk about summers and families and studies, and a brief introduction to the new family member, Nicki, who was much squeed over and praised, the group (who were not small, mind you, numbering close to twenty girls), all with some effort, crowded onto the train, accompanied by the gazes and sighs of some besotted fourth-year boys (none of whom were given any notice, as well as many girls, who were slightly more subtle in their adoration) and slotted themselves into neighbouring compartments using a system which had been developed by Nidhi mainly and with the support of the entire group with much care and precision over the past four years to ensure fairness and the chance for everyone to talk to each other(a truly Hufflepuff initiative, don’t you think).

No sooner than this was done than the conductor announced that they were departing the platform, and with the distinctive whistle that had characterised so much to so many people, the train slowly set off. Nidhi settled in, wondered if Nicki was comfortable with all the other pets (she had, in fact, fallen asleep) and leaned back, relaxing. She had a feeling that this year might be the best yet.


End file.
